Changing Highlands: 1750 - 1900

Victorian woman holding her hat beside a studio railing, with a painted seaside backdrop.

How the 'north' learned to welcome holidaymakers

The railway brings northern golf, fishing and seaside escapes within reach, while hotels and communities prepare to welcome the holidaymakers.

Steam locomotive and people on the platform at Thurso railway station.

When the 'north' became a holiday destination

Visitors head north for adventure, while local excursionists discover the pleasures of being tourists closer to home.

Black-and-white photograph of six railway workers posing on and beside an early steam locomotive coupled to a wooden flatbed wagon.

How the arrival of the railway impacted the north

Steam brings whisky trains, unfamiliar goods and opportunities worth celebrating, while threatening livelihoods that once seemed secure.

Did you know that Queen Victoria came to stay at Loch Maree?

They crossed the Minch from Lewis, assembled beside an unremarkable Highland bridge and sang for Queen Victoria. No plaque marks the place today, but we stop there and bring one of Wester Ross’s loveliest forgotten stories back to life.